1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an inflatable positioning aid that can be used in an operating room so that a patient can be positioned conveniently and safely during surgery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Positioning aids are used in operating rooms for positioning and supporting a patient during surgery. In this regard, a patient generally is rendered substantially immobile during surgery and is positioned to give the doctor proper access for the surgery. However, the weight of the patient can exert pressure on blood vessels and nerves that can cause serious injuries or other medical complications. Doctors and other medical personnel are generally aware of these problems and often employ rolled up blankets or towels as padding to position a patient in a manner that will shift the weight of the patient to areas of the patient that are well suited to carrying the weight for the duration of the surgery. However, padding compresses under a load and is not adjustable. Hence accurate positioning of a patient is difficult with conventional padding. Additionally, padding is not easily repositioned if the doctor concludes that the patient is not properly oriented for the surgery. Furthermore, padding can create pressure points and can contribute to problems similar to the problems that the padding is intended to avoid.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,724 is assigned to the assignee of the subject application and discloses inflatable positioning aids that overcome many of the problems associated with padding and other non-inflatable positioning aids. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,324 is incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the inflatable positioning aids in U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,324 are used by initially placing an inflatable pillow in an uninflated substantially flat condition between the patient and the operating table. The size, shape and position of the inflatable pillow will be selected in accordance with characteristics of the patient and the nature of the surgery. A pump then is employed to direct air into the inflatable pillow. The patient will move in a controlled manner as air is being directed into the inflatable pillow. Thus, the weight of the patient is supported over a broad area by the inflatable pillow. Additionally, the inflatable pillow is positioned so that little or no weight is supported at critical locations, such as at locations near important blood vessels or nerves.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,724 discloses several different configurations for the inflatable positioning aids in accordance with specific needs for different types of surgery. In this regard, FIGS. 1-3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,724 relate to a positioning aid that is particularly well suited for supporting a pregnant woman during certain obstetric procedures, such as a cesarean section. In particular, the inflatable pillow includes top and bottom sheets that are formed from nylon. The sheets are placed at least partly in registration with one another and are secured to one another about the perimeter of at least one of the sheets. The connected sheets thus define a chamber that can receive air. One of the sheets has a fitting that can be connected to an air tube of the inflatable positioning aid. The inflatable pillow further includes a non-inflatable flap that can be disposed under a portion of the patient that can support the weight of the patient without damage or injury. Air then is directed through the air tube and into the inflatable pillow. As a result, the patient will tilt into an orientation that is desirable and effective for the obstetric procedure. The non-inflatable flap prevents the pillow from displacing transversely as the air is being directed into the pillow. The inflatable positioning aid permits the doctor to gradually change the amount of tilt intra-operatively, if necessary, by adding or releasing air.
A similar inflatable positioning aid is sold by the assignee of the subject invention under the trademark SHOULDER-FLOAT™. The SHOULDER-FLOAT™ inflatable pillow is structurally and functionally similar to the above-described inflatable pillow intended for obstetric purposes. However, the SHOULDER-FLOAT™ inflatable pillow does not require a non-inflatable flap. The absence of the flap reduces cost and size. The SHOULDER-FLOAT™ inflatable pillow is positioned between an operating table and the upper torso of a person who requires shoulder surgery or any other surgery that requires the patient to be in the lateral decubitus position with the weight primarily on one shoulder. Air is directed into the SHOULDER-FLOAT™ inflatable pillow to lift the shoulder and upper torso from the operating table, thereby facilitating any surgery in the lateral decubitus portion and avoiding the above-described pressure related problems.
The above-described inflatable positioning devices are used to relieve and control pressure points between the patient and the operating table. Some surgery requires the patient to be maintained at a certain position on the plane define by the operating table or to be oriented in a certain manner on the operating table. For example, hip surgery generally requires the patient to be supported on one lateral side so that the hip that is being repaired is in a superior position and accessible to the surgeon. Accordingly, most operating tables are adapted to accommodate stabilizing posts that extend at a specified angle (e.g. vertically) and at specified position on the operating table. Examples of known stabilizing posts are identified by P1 and P2 in FIGS. 1 and 2 herein. As depicted in these figures, the operating room personal will apply padding around the stabilizing post to avoid having a hard contact point that could injure a patient. However, as explained above, padding is not very effective for eliminating pressure point and patients have been know to suffer pressure related injuries despite the use of padding on the surgical stabilizer post.
Many procedures utilize robotic devices for all or part of the surgery. Robotic devices often are moved relative to coordinates defined by X and Y axes in the plane of the operating table. Accordingly, surgeons may position a patient relative to positioning posts on the operating table so that a patient is at a known location relative to the X and Y axes defined on the operating table. Examples of these positioning posts are identified by P3 in FIGS. 3 and 4. Padding typically is used on the positioning posts P3 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 similar to the padding used on the stabilizer post P1 and P2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the padding used on the prior art positioning post P3 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can create pressure related injuries to the patient.
Some surgery, such as surgery on a limb, requires the use of a tourniquet to prevent excessive intraoperative blood loss. Most surgical tourniquets use pneumatic pressure to control the restriction on the blood flow in the limb. The pneumatic pressure in the prior art surgical tourniquet is controlled by a “tourniquet box” that communicates with both a source of air and the tourniquet. The tourniquet box includes an input device for inputting required tourniquet pressure requirements, an output display, sensors for sensing actual pressure in the tourniquet, and a control processor or server for controlling the operation of the tourniquet box. Surgical tourniquets are available from Instrumed, Inc. of Redmond, Wash. and from others, and tourniquet controls are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,166,123, U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,103, U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,268, U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,228, U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,522 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,494. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The subject invention was made in view of the above-identified problems with stabilizer posts or positioning posts that extend upwardly from or near the operating table to position a patient.